Apple unveiled this week the new features appearing in the next version of the operating system running on all their portable devices, the iPhone OS 4.0.

This set of features covers all levels of the platform:

• For users, many new functionalities in the basic iPhone applications (unified mailbox, among others);
• For enterprises, new tools and libraries to help securing data on the iPhone and the possibility to deploy an iPhone fleet easily in a company through wireless networks; 
• For developers, new libraries to enrich their applications, allowing more interactivity with the iPhone platform and its default applications (Calendar, Photos, Map, Camera);

Multi-tasking 

 Apple still doesn't allow full multi-tasking on the iPhone, that is, the ability to run several applications at the same time. However, a couple of new features have been added which are supposed to cover most of the cases where real multi tasking would have been needed. Starting from iPhone OS 4.0, it will be possible to:

• Navigate between several applications without closing them: the iPhone can keep in memory the current state of several applications at the same time and show one back to the user instantly. Thus the applications are not technically running at the same time, but the user will feel like they are since the first loading time will be avoided;
• Add local notifications on the device itself (like a reminder): A third party application can register events on the iPhone that will pop up as notifications at the desired time. The difference with Push Notification being that everything is done locally;
• Play some sound even though the concerned application is closed, which is great for every Skype-like applications, web radio applications and any kind of application using sound to interact with its users);

iAd 

Apple has decided to enter the mobile advertisement market. Hence they created an advertisement network for iPhone OS which will allow developers to monetize their application through ads and advertiser to reach any user of an Apple device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) in a rather expressive way. Indeed, advertisements won't simply be text and images, Apple offers the ability to build full web applications and use them as an ad inside third party applications. Apple's homemade demonstrations of the iAd possibilities in terms of interactivity were quite impressive.

We regret that some details on how this advertisement network will work are still missing:

• How will prices be fixed?
• How does Apple decide of which advertisement to display in each application and for each user, in order to maximize the ads relevance ?
• How can a developer wishing to put ads in his application will be able to help by characterizing its potential users, again, in order to improve the advertisement relevance ?

AdHoc Distribution over wireless networks

With iPhone OS 4.0, Apple simplified the deployment process of iPhones fleets and private third party applications in companies. It should be possible to administrate a set of iPhones without having a physical access to them, through a wireless network (Wi-Fi or 3G).

This should help convincing companies to choose the iPhone as a smartphone for their employees since this lack of administrative tools was the main drawback of the platform. A sign that Apple clearly aims this market.